Counting rods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Counting rods (筭) are small bars, typically 3–14 cm (1" to 6") long, that were used by mathematicians for calculation in ancient East Asia. They are placed either horizontally or vertically to represent any integer or rational number.
Quick Facts Chinese name, Traditional Chinese ...
Counting rods | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese name | |||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 算籌 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 算筹 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||
Chinese | 算子 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Vietnamese name | |||||||||
Vietnamese alphabet | que tính toán trù | ||||||||
Hán-Nôm | 𣠗併 算籌 | ||||||||
Korean name | |||||||||
Hangul | 산가지 산목 | ||||||||
Hanja | 算- 算木 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Japanese name | |||||||||
Kanji | 算木 算籌 | ||||||||
Hiragana | さんぎ さんちゅう | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Close
The written forms based on them are called rod numerals. They are a true positional numeral system with digits for 1–9 and a blank for 0, from the Warring states period (circa 475 BCE)[1] to the 16th century.